Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Schermer

Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time by Michael Shermer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was written by Michael Schermer, who writes one of my favorite columns in Scientific American, Skeptic. It is essentially an exploration of "weird" beliefs that people have and an attempt to understand how those beliefs come about. I think it should be required reading for most everyone because it espouses critical thinking and evaluation. Even if you believe in any of the things he talks about, he approaches it as "here's what supporters present to back up their beliefs and here is the evidence that shows their arguments are flawed." He doesn't approach things as "these people are wrong and here's why" and I like that. The whole idea is to promote thinking more critically about things and understanding the logical mistakes people make. This serves to help readers avoid making those same mistakes and I don't think there is anyone that couldn't benefit from learning to better think critically!

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